Rebuilding Korea Party expresses regret over Democratic Party's unilateral alliance panel setup

The Rebuilding Korea Party on Monday expressed regret after the Democratic Party of Korea established a "Rebuilding Korea Party solidarity subcommittee" under its party leader-led grand unity task force and appointed lawmaker Lee Hae-sik as its chair.

In a statement issued under the party spokesperson's office, the Rebuilding Korea Party said it "expresses regret that, ahead of new party leader Kim Min-seok's visit to the Rebuilding Korea Party, the body and person responsible for managing solidarity with the Rebuilding Korea Party were announced unilaterally."

Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok announced the move earlier Monday at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly. "I will build an unbreakable bridge of dialogue with the People Power Party, the leading opposition party, and a bridge of solidarity toward the future with reform and progressive parties," he said, adding that he would establish a grand unity task force directly under the party leader.

Kim said he would appoint lawmaker Park Beom-gye as task force head, with lawmaker Jin Seong-jun as chair of the progressive solidarity subcommittee, lawmaker Lee Hae-sik as chair of the Rebuilding Korea Party solidarity subcommittee, and lawmakers Hwang Myeong-seon and Lee So-young as co-chairs of the recruitment and expansion subcommittee. He vowed to launch "sweeping and swift all-front solidarity, integration and expansion."

The Rebuilding Korea Party pushed back, saying "restoring trust between the two parties must come first for solidarity to become substantive." It added that while various approaches should be explored to rebuild trust, "the core issue is for the Democratic Party to first disclose its plan for how it will implement the roundtable declaration from the presidential election."

The Democratic Party moved to strengthen ties by launching a dedicated body for inter-party solidarity, but the Rebuilding Korea Party raised concerns over procedure and trust from the very first day, suggesting the two sides will need to coordinate closely as alliance discussions move forward.